coaching, mentoring, delegating
outline
Many managers do not have, or make, the time to fully develop the individuals who work for them. Not doing this is a waste of time and money. Almost all individuals have more capability and potential than is usually identified. Managers who ignore this are, at best, short-sighted and, at worst, stupid.
Coaching, mentoring and delegating are the simplest, easiest, most effective and, most importantly to cost-conscious organisations, the cheapest ways of developing individuals. When an individual starts to develop they become more confident in their abilities generally and in their ability to learn new skills in particular. They become motivated and willing and can deal with more complex tasks with more uncertain outcomes. They become more and more able to take responsibility.
Developed individuals are also the most likely source for providing new managers or for promotion into new jobs and, because they are home-grown, they will have valuable experience of the company and the loyalty which goes with that.
aim
To enable you to better develop the individuals you are responsible for managing
objectives
- To understand how to assess an individual's current skills, performance and potential
- To be able to recognise potential
- To know how to write and implement a coaching plan
- To be able to delegate effectively and understand the part management control plays in this
- To understand where this fits with performance appraisal
outcomes
- Understanding of the fundamentals of individual development
- Better able to identify those with development potential
- The skill of using performance management to coach and mentor
- Ability to use delegation effectively and appropriately as a development tool
- Ability to conduct informal and formal appraisals to manage this process
core communication skills
outline
Whether it's a face-to-face meeting, a telephone call, social media or any other medium, communication is a complex process which requires constant attention so that meaning is sent and received as intended.
Inadequate communication is often a source of misunderstanding and conflict. It interferes with productivity and profitability. We have all experienced the frustration of not being able to get through to someone, or of being misunderstood. We all have the ability to be good communicators, we just need to develop the skills and practice them.
Communication is difficult, sometimes because of the situation, sometimes because of the people involved. It is relatively easy to implement a few basic skills to be able to improve noticeably.
aim
To enable effective communication
objectives
- To understand the principles of effective communication
- To know how to listen and when it is important
- To improve questioning and listening skills so that messages received are clearly understood and, where appropriate, passed on
- To become aware of various communication styles and to learn how to adapt your style when necessary
- To learn how to build rapport and empathy between you and others
- To learn how to communicate with clarity and gain commitment
outcomes
- Ability to use principles of effective communication in daily work
- Confidence in ability to prioritise issues
- You will actively seek clarity in information you receive and pass on to others
- Be able to make different communication styles work for you
- Knowledge of how to build rapport and empathy with others and ability to do it
decision-making
outline
Many people make decisions too early, too late or not at all. They make decisions with too little information, too much or none at all. Effective performance can be severely affected by the ability or inability to make the right decisions quickly and accurately.
How decisions are made, or not made, in organisations leads to poor results but often is not identified as a culprit.
Both logic and emotion have a part to play in decision-making to ensure that more of the right decisions are made with the right information at the right time with the right results.
aim
To make you more able to make the right decision with the right information at the right time at the right speed
objectives
- To become aware of how you currently make decisions
- To understand what causes you to delay making a decision, to make a decision too quickly or to make the wrong decision
- To properly understand how to assess risk
- To build your confidence in your natural decision-making ability
- To have a blueprint for improved decision-making in different situations
outcomes
- Understand why and how you make/fail to make decisions
- You will stop delaying, you will stop making decisions too quickly
- You will have an improved ability to avoid making wrong decisions
- Ability to categorise the risk relating to your decisions
- The necessary skills to make decisions naturally and without too much effort and difficulty
- A blueprint to assist you in making difficult, and other, decisions
feedback as a developmental tool
outline
Feedback is the single most important and effective tool for managing and developing people. Most of us are expert at observing, reading, analysing, assessing and commenting on other peoples' behaviour. Unfortunately we usually keep this to ourselves or talk to a third party about it, not the person who should be the subject of feedback. We are far less skilled at doing this in a structured way where the feedback could be of practical developmental use to the person receiving it.
Constructive feedback delivered in the right way at the right time can be staggeringly-useful in an individual's development. For feedback to be effective it should be based on observation of an individual's behaviour and be supported by examples of behaviour as illustration, not as evidence for the prosecution.
Good feedback is likely to result in higher motivation, more confidence, professional and personal development, increased commitment and consistently-improving performance. All people at work should, at the very least, be experts at feedback. The vast majority are not.
aim
To enable you to give feedback effectively
objectives
- To understand the ground rules for giving feedback
- To understand the part it plays in individual development and performance appraisal
- To understand the behavioural aspects of feedback
- To be able to plan an effective feedback session
- To understand how to follow this up
outcomes
- Clear understanding of the ground rules for giving feedback and why they are so important
- Be able to give feedback, positive or negative, so it is constructive and of practical use
- Ability to tune feedback to the improvement of individual performance
- Anticipate and deal with resistance and defensiveness
- Use feedback as part of effective performance appraisal
- Check whether, and how, the feedback has been received and understood
lateral thinking & creativity
outline
Many of the world's success stories, both in business and elsewhere, are the products of minds which their owners allowed to think and imagine beyond the usual boundaries. Unfortunately, the perception of the many is that what organisations reward above all else is conformity in all its forms. Lateral thinking and creativity are usually recognised, rewarded, envied and held up as good examples in hindsight.
In a business world which is increasingly-competitive and increasingly-controlled it is difficult to find the time or encouragement to use lateral thinking and creativity as part of a day-to-day approach. These skills can thrive under pressure but often do not. Lateral thinking and creativity require time. Time is what most people at work are short of. So they don't do it.
Allowing your mind to use these natural abilities will enable you to deal with other people in a more relaxed and informed way and to approach difficulties, issues and problems in fresh, imaginative ways. Using your natural creativity will energise you and relax you at the same time. It will help you to find answers and possibilities where others see only blocks and problems. You will deal with difficulties, solve problems and operate at a level of achievement that will baffle others.
aim
To be able to use natural creativity and lateral thinking in everyday behaviour
objectives
- To understand why and how we stifle our creative abilities
- To learn, or re-learn, how to think laterally
- To be able to use both sides of the brain effectively
- To understand how slowing down can contribute to moving faster
- To tap some of the unused potential in your brain
outcomes
- Able to accept that you have the potential and ability to be creative
- Understand how lateral thinking works and be able to deploy it as a skill
- Able to use your logic/thinking and intuition/feeling together to inform your decision-making
- Clearly understand that constant speed and pressure does not make for good practice or best decisions
- Be able to use more of the potential that you have in practical and useful ways
recruitment & selection
outline
If managers at all levels in companies had better skills in selecting and recruiting appropriate people to work for them their organisations would be more successful. Managers who are skilled and confident in their ability to get recruitment and selection right more of the time than they get it wrong understand that this is where motivation starts.
The ability to interview candidates for a job helps with many of the other situations where it is necessary to manage, question and listen to others. It is very good practice for focus, paying attention, asking detailed questions, listening and exercising judgement.
If you are responsible for recruiting you should have a clear understanding of your company's recruitment and selection process, be able to take part in this as and when necessary and be able to train others in how to operate it.
aim
To be able to run an effective recruitment and selection process
objectives
- To understand what your company's recruitment and selection process involves and how it works
- To be able to talk to a candidate's experience and understand the importance of this
- To be aware of the different types of question required and how to frame these
- To be able to probe for an adequate answer
- To understand the importance of intuition in the recruitment and selection process
- To be able to close the interview and keep any agreements made
outcomes
- A clear understanding of your company's recruitment and selection process
- Able to set up and run/help with recruitment and selection sessions
- The skill of questioning candidates in such a way that they answer your questions from their practical experience
- Trust in your questioning, analysis, judgement and linking it with intuition to make the right decision
- Keeping the agreements you make at the end of each interview by agreed deadlines and understanding why this is important for individual and company credibility
resource investigation
outline
Resources are all around us although we often act as though there is a shortage. Resource investigation starts with an attitude. The central difference between someone with an optimistic, can-do attitude and someone with a pessimistic, can't-do attitude is that the former will be constantly seeking resources to help achieve while the latter will be constantly collecting problems to justify non-achievement. Poverty-thinking is infectious: in the dveloped world we are living with far more resources than anyone in recorded history and complaining more about shortage.
Individuals who are able to use creativity, curiosity, assertiveness and energy can find resource where none was apparent. These people usually go on to achieve greater things than others who are more easily discouraged.
Resource investigation encompasses more than just money and inanimate objects. Unexpected resources are to be found within oneself as well as in others. Luck, coincidence and serendipity are resources which turn up frequently when individuals are open to them. Abundance of resource does not guarantee success but success often attends those who are able to find resources not apparent to others.
aim
To use resource investigation as a way to create a competitive edge
objectives
- To understand how thinking often determines results
- To see how many people stop themselves doing anything with negative, poverty-thinking
- To understand that, in our world, there is not really a shortage of anything
- To identify situations which require you to use resource investigation and understand what to do in these situations
- To be able to use lateral thinking to improve your resource investigation
outcomes
- Better able to gather and analyse information and plan and deploy resources
- Understand how to identify and gather resources
- Able to use lateral thinking to find resources and alternatives
- Constantly conscious of the possibility of different ways of achieving what you are aiming for
running effective meetings
outline
Meetings often take longer than they should and achieve less than they could. In meetings individuals often do not participate or, if they do, they do not do so in the most effective way for all present.
Meetings are necessary, they can be sources of information, direction and energy rather than a dreary and irrelevant waste of time that changes nothing.
To be useful meetings should have structure, focus and participation with agreements to action that are implemented. You will develop the confidence and techniques to do this with any group of people in virtually any situation.
aim
To enable you to run a meeting that is of practical use to all attending
objectives
- To understand the mechanics and dynamics of meetings
- To develop the skills to ensure that you and other attendees are involved and contributing
- To be able to stop unproductive diversions, wandering off, people being there but absent and to use time effectively
- To practise how to agree and reach consensus, assign and ensure practical, relevant actions
outcomes
- Able to set realistic and relevant agendas for your meetings
- The necessary skills to keep your meeting focussed and on track
- The skills to involve everyone and ensure that everyone's contribution is heard
- Be able to overcome barriers to consensus, gain commitment on an action plan and ensure follow- up
- Know how to write accurate, professional minutes
setting, managing & achieving goals
outline
In the last decade, in many areas of business life, we have seen the ineffectiveness and failure which results from setting goals which are inappropriate, unrealistic and unreachable. These goals are usually being set without the right amount of, or no, support, lack of adequate knowledge of individual capabilities, training, coaching or resources. Small wonder that failure is often the result.
The ability to set and achieve realistic goals is one hallmark of an effective person. Much difficulty and unhappiness in life comes from a lack of goals, inappropriate goals or the inability to achieve goals.
Being able to set goals which stretch and develop the individual, contribute to the performance delivery of the team and to the overall results of the company is key to the sustained success of organisations.
aim
To give you the confidence to be able to set, manage and oversee the achievement of appropriate goals
objectives
- To understand what are appropriate and achievable goals
- To identify the difference between what is challenging and what is unachievable
- To analyse what causes failure in the achievement of goals
- To identify what you, and your team-members, need in order to succeed
- To understand the process of setting and managing goals
- To understand that saying it and setting it is not the same as achieving it.
- To be able to set, manage and achieve goals yourself and to do it for your team
outcomes
- Able to set appropriate goals for yourself and your team-members
- The discrimination and assertiveness to not accept, or be bullied or coerced into setting unachievable goals
- The awareness to know when you are starting to fail and do something about it
- Ability to manage goals for the members of your team and help them achieve these goals
- The determination to only set and accept goals which you are willing and able to achieve
time management
outline
Being able to manage your time is a more crucial skill than it has ever been. Demands and pressures on individuals, teams and organisations are heavy and increasing. This causes increasewing pressure, strain, sickness, stress and dysfunction. As a direct consequence the amount of time wasted is staggering. If this time lost, wasted, stolen and frittered could be computed and entered on organisations' balance sheets it would quickly become apparent how huge amounts of money are being thrown away. But, as everyone is exhorted to work faster, smarter and with fewer resources, the problem will increase.
Individuals fail to manage their time effectively for a number of reasons: they lack the skills, they think they do not have the time, they are not set good examples by their peers and superiors, they are not motivated to do it, there are no sanctions or discipline when they fail to do it, we live in cultures where lack of punctuality and mismanagement of time is expected and accepted, they don't notice how bad they are at it, they don't care.
Effective individuals manage their time. Full stop.
aim
To enable you to manage your time efficiently
objectives
- To understand how important time management is
- To acknowledge how poor time management erodes your personal and your professional credibility
- To identify where you are losing and wasting time and where you can save it
- To outline practical steps you can take to improve your time management
outcomes
- Make realistic and achievable agreements with regard to time
- Be noticeably and consistently punctual
- You will refuse to be coerced, encouraged or pushed into agreeing to do things you are not 100% committed to doing
- You will plan ahead how to use your time and allow enough time for achievement
- You will actively support and challenge your colleagues in their time management
